Look up "policeman" in an online Maori dictionary and you used to find a suggestion that police carrying warrants should be "kicked in the backside" and thrown out.

John Moorfield, author of maoridictionary.co.nz, admitted the sentence appealed to his warped sense of humour - but has now changed it, after a complaint.

That came from Lee Baker, who was helping her son Alex, 4, learn te reo and was surprised with what she found in the online dictionary when he asked her what the Maori word for policeman was.

"I was a bit disappointed, because the sentence basically gave the word for policeman but said he would get a kick up the backside, his warrant screwed up and he'd be thrown out," said Ms Baker.

"I didn't think it was good for Maori people. It's not good for New Zealand having that idea put out there. Why couldn't it have been 'the kind policeman helped the old lady across the road' or something like that?"

Ms Baker, who moved to New Zealand from Britain 11 years ago, said the sentence showed a disdain for authority and could be misconstrued as police-bashing.

"My 4-year-old son had no idea about it because he couldn't read it but my eldest daughter can read this stuff, so it's not good," she said.

"There's all that police-bashing going on, so it's not really a good look."

The definition also raised eyebrows among police. A spokesman said, "While such comments are unhelpful, the police strongly value their relationship with Maori and our focus continues to be on building positive relationships with tangata whenua through our work in communities across the country."

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori chief executive Glenis Philip-Barbara said the issue could be one of cultural differences around humour. She doubted it would lead to Maori relating to police any differently.

"Sometimes a Maori perspective and Pakeha perspective on things can be poles apart - we laugh at tangihanga and can even berate the tupapaku [corpse]. But in the context of language learning, which is hard enough, I would be less inclined to complain and probably more inclined to giggle."

pirihi(loan) (noun) policeman, police - word now obsolete.Ka mau aua tangata i nga pirihi, a kei roto aua tangata i te herehere i naianei.Those men were caught by the police and they are in prison now. See also pirihimana.